Neighbors claim EP trustee is harassing them with constant car honking but

lawyer says client is being a good grandpa

Trustee Dan McKeownNeighborhood disputes are commonplace, but a disagreement in Evergreen Park involving a village trustee and his car horn has found its way to court.

And there will be a bench trial scheduled for the dispute in September as well.This unusual horn o’ plenty conflict involves Trustee Dan McKeown and his neighbors, Barb and Keith Kremmick, both who live in the 9300 block of Sacramento Avenue, in the northeast quadrant of the village.Neighbors say McKeown is out of line by honking his car horn in the neighborhood.They call it harassment.His lawyer says McKeown is just a guy who loves his grandkids.Breaking it down, McKeown has been charged with disorderly conduct following allegations by the Kremmicks that he repeatedly honks his car horn while passing their house.The complaint, filed July 25 in Cook County Circuit Court, says McKeown has “knowingly and intentionally honked his car horn” while in front of the Kremmicks’ house, which has “alarmed and disturbed” the block as well as breached the peace.The Kremmicks were hesitant to sound off on the matter Tuesday following a brief hearing at Bridgeview Court during which Judge John Gallagher scheduled a bench trial for Sept. 25.Barb Kremmick said McKeown, 60, has sounded his horn far more than the eight times mentioned in the complaint, but she has no idea why he does it.“For what reason nobody knows,” she said Tuesday afternoon. “The whole block has been dealing with this.” McKeown’s attorney, Craig Miller, offered an explanation for his client’s habitual honking.McKeown’s son and grandchildren live next door to the Kremmicks, and McKeown enjoys tooting the horn as he passes their house.“He doesn’t lay on the horn. He’s just a guy who loves his grandchildren,” said Miller, who added that McKeown stopped honking after the Kremmicks confronted him.Miller suspects that the Kremmicks have another motivation for filing a formal complaint.“They’re just upset with him,” Miller said. “They don’t like him for whatever reason.”A neighbor, who asked not to be identified, supported the Kremmicks’ contentions.

She said McKeown often beeps his car horn while driving from one end of the block to the other. She added that he drives around the block just to sound the horn.“It’s been going on longer than he’s been a trustee,” she said. “He’s harassing.”McKeown refused to comment on the matter following Tuesday’s court appearance. Evergreen Park Mayor Jim Sexton had little to say about the dispute.“It’s a neighborhood matter,” Sexton said. “We’ll let the courts figure out what’s going on.”McKeown serves as comptroller of Keyser Industries, located in downtown Evergreen Park, according to biographical information provided on the village website, and has been very active in the community.

He served as president of the Evergreen Park Chamber of Commerce; trustee of the Police Pension Board and president and vice-president of the School District 231 Board. He also is active at St. Bernadette Parish.He graduated from Marist High School and completed his completed his undergraduate studies in business and earned his MBA from Lewis University in 1982. He and his wife, Betty, have lived in the village for more than 35 years and have four adult sons.